John Cowan wrote:
In the cover story, it was used as a final defense against the Invaders and destroyed by them. In the true story, it was destroyed because it constituted a hazard, but I forget exactly how.
Thanks! But not sure "true" story is the opposite of "cover" story, here :-) Both versions of the book are sitting in a box somewhere in the garage. It must be twenty or thirty years since I read whichever. Few writers other than Clarke had the chutzpah or cleverness to write a viable story placed billions of years in the future. Now that you mention the lunar plot twist, I do remember something about it - strange that other aspects of the story remain much more vivid. Of course, the other civilizations were tossing stars around, not just moons, so it may have seemed pedestrian. Rob NOAO
